


Living in the After

by per4liebe



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: Cinnamon Roll Link, First Kiss, Implied Sexual Content, Link/Zelda is QPR, M/M, Mom Friend Zelda, No Zelda bashing, Post-Ocarina of Time, Protect Zelda 2k17, Sinnamon Roll Sheik
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 16:25:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10812633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/per4liebe/pseuds/per4liebe
Summary: Link unravels the many mysteries of Sheik as they help a struggling Zelda to rebuild Hyrule after the devestation left by Ganon. How will their relationships evolve, and what will be revealed about their true natures?More about the relationships than actual plot. Not canon-compliant. But then, how does one even try to follow the Zelda timeline?





	Living in the After

 

Link walked down a long hallway of the New Hyrule Castle. The fine granite floors were shiny to the point where he could see his reflection in them. The rest of the palace was similar; beautiful, pristine. Everyone had been enthusiastic to see the castle restored to its former glory, and beyond. It made sense. After all, the whole kingdom had been full of ugliness, grime, and darkness for seven years. People just wanted something to be pure again. To this end, Hylians from all over had come to help with the rebuilding effort. So many people, with hardship in their eyes but hope in their hearts, and so very _alive_ , that Link had thought he might shed tears when they'd arrived at the ruins many months ago. It was now so alike, and yet so different, than what had been. These people knew pain, never forgot it, but the effort put into revitalizing the kingdom had payed off. Link could hear a sound in the market or see a certain expression on someone's face and he'd be transported, for a moment, to the past. 

Of course, another reason why the reconstruction had been so successful, besides the optimism of the people, had been Zelda and her magic. Link hadn't realized how powerful she was during that final battle, but seeing some of the things that she could do with her powers recently had astounded him. And it wasn't just her magic that was powerful. She was incredibly intelligent with the reconstruction plans too. Perhaps this shouldn't have been quite as surprising, being the holder of the triforce of wisdom and all, but that alone didn't explain her engineer's eye for potential problems. Link wished he could help her more with it, especially when she began to weaken from all of the magic use, but some of the things she talked about with the building leaders went straight over his head. 

Thinking back on it, Zelda's sickness during that time had been strange. Not in itself, since to him, it seemed natural that she should look so tired and weak after what she did for the rebuilding effort. But some of the things she said, about the work not being the reason, Impa's worry even though she didn't stop Zelda from whatever it was that _was_ the reason, and the fact that even when she did stop using her magic for a while, she didn't get better for a long time. This last part might simply be because of how Zelda was now, though. How her body was. 

It was just as well that Link didn't understand what was going on with the city planning, because there were still dark creatures all over Hyrule that had to be taken care of. He would be gone from the castle for days at a time while he hunted down whatever monster it was that Zelda had gotten word about, and then he disposed of some other, smaller nuisances while he was at it. When he was at the castle, he mostly did small errands for Zelda that she didn't want to trust with others, or he did some manual labor with old acquaintances from back then. He wasn't smart enough for politics or city planning, but he could still be useful and do something. 

So that was how things were now.

He finally came to his destination: a large circular room that was like an informal meeting room for the court. Recently, Zelda spent an increasing amount of time there with a few of her advisers, so it was here that he started looking for her when he wanted to ask her something (at least, when she wasn't in her rooms or the slowly expanding library). When he looked in, however, she wasn't there. 

Who _was_ there shocked him into forgetting what he had even gone in to ask. 

"Sheik?" 

He was speaking with Impa, turned away from Link, but he could recognize the figure in traditional Sheikah clothing anywhere. A million questions were whirling around in his mind at the sight of his old guide, but when Sheik turned to see the source of his name, he found he couldn't speak a word. Sheik's mysterious manner, his very being, discouraged noise, and his dark red eyes captured attention. He couldn't look away from them, as if Sheik was using some kind of magic. It was just like back then, but doubly so, because Link had thought he'd never see him - this disguise? - again. 

"Hello...Hero." Sheik nodded his head in greeting once he realized who it was. 

Link was still staring.

"...Did you need something?" Sheik finally asked. 

"Oh, right. Um, actually, I was looking for Zelda, but I guess she - you - are busy, so I'll just. Find you later." 

Sheik's eyes on him made him flustered. There was such intensity there, like he was expecting Link to say something very important. And he couldn't ever tell what Sheik was thinking. It must be some Sheikah trait or training. Or maybe it was just the mask. 

Sheik still had his eyes on him when Link noticed Impa again, who was standing just back from Sheik. She glanced between Sheik and him before resting her gaze on Link. Two inscrutable Sheikah warriors were staring at him. He couldn't even tell if he was interrupting something important or not; Link was pretty sure they'd look at him like that if he had walked in on either an assassination plot or a discussion on what to have for lunch. 

Link thanked the goddesses that he didn't blush easily while he ducked his head and exited the room. 

 

* * *

 

Link found Zelda in the courtyard that evening. The sun was setting, casting a reddish glow across the garden, a large and elaborate project with a fountain in the center that was as tall as the first floor of the castle. Zelda sat on a stone bench covered with ornate decorations near a smaller fountain, looking towards the sunset. 

"Princess." Link murmured, not wanting to startle her.

Zelda didn't look back, but gestured with a thin, lithe arm for him to come closer. 

Link sat beside her. Zelda still faced the sunset, her regal composure on full display. Straight back, chin up, eyes full of steel. Her looks were one of the reasons why she held her own so well against some of the more stubborn Hylians. But she was still undeniably a woman. The fountain's shadow hid half of her face, making a silhouette of her graceful features on the side closest to him. When she finally turned to him as they began speaking, she seemed to melt into softness as her entire face turned into the shadow. 

"You came looking for me earlier today."

"I did." 

 Zelda tilted her head towards the fountain; a silent "go on." He opened his mouth, then shut it again. He didn't mean to be difficult, he just didn't know which subject to tackle first: the easy one, or the bomb. 

Well. The stable expansion could wait, he supposed, even as much as he longed to bring Epona inside the gates again. She hated being that close to other horses, and the stalls were a mess right now, and recently, there were so many horses coming through that there weren't any open stalls anyway. But he hated being away from her. Without Navi, Epona was the last constant he had.

But Sheik was the more pressing matter. If he didn't bring it up now, he'd probably convince himself that it was a dream, seeing him again. Her. The disguise. The disguise that Zelda shouldn't need anymore. He didn't understand it at all. Sheik didn't even look like Zelda, like he could be a disguise. Even with magic changing some features. That would be a really strong glamour, the eyes, the hair... jeez, his entire face. And he _knew_ Sheik wasn't a woman. Or the glamour -if it was glamour, which would be ridiculous, even for Zelda- wasn't a woman. If he was going to be seeing Sheik around, he'd really like to know... well, a lot of things. And he probably wouldn't be able to get anything but cryptic poems out of Sheik. 

"I'll talk to you some other time about why I was looking for you. I just..." Link started.

Zelda would probably have walked out by now if she were anyone else. Goddesses, he was horrible at conversations. 

"You were Sheik, again. This morning. " 

"Yes." 

He looked into Zelda's shadowed face when he said this. It betrayed uncertainty as she said her reply. 

"It's just, I didn't think you'd ever..." He tried again. 

"I needed to scout an area in Hyrule Field, and you had just come back from an expedition, I -"

"I would've gone out again. You know that. I don't ever mind doing it."

"I know." 

She paused. Darkness had almost fallen. There was only a thin red streak of red at the horizon now, and the whole garden was a shadow. The place was slightly weighted now, like nothing in it should be disturbed. Fitting this, Zelda almost whispered now. 

"I wanted to see it. The kingdom. I wanted to see it... with my own eyes." 

"Are they your own eyes?" 

She tensed, and he didn't think she'd answer. She removed her hands from where they were planted on the bench, though, and tried to explain, articulating partially with gestures. 

"It's like... Being inside a tunnel, looking out into the world. At a distance, but there. "

"Is that what Sheik is?" 

Zelda closed her eyes.

"When Impa took me from the castle, she and I created Sheik. We created him to be a hollow body, a shell..." She trailed off, but burst out soon after, quicker than before. 

"The idea was to hold and protect me, to keep me apart from what the world had become. I always seem to be at a distance like that, at a _safe_ distance, just like how I'm supposed to stay in the castle and listen to the reports. I'm probably safer as Sheik than I am in the castle, though, no matter what Impa says, and this way I can see the truth. The Hylian people are so willfully optimistic that they underplay the remaining issues in the kingdom. Yes, it's _better_ now, of course it is! But how will I fix the rest without a complete picture of Hyrule?" 

Link didn't know what to say to that. Zelda straightened and looked back out to where the sun had been, like she was now embarrassed to have been that open. She continued, however. 

"Sometimes, though, the only reason I'm out there is to see it all: the mountains, farms and fields, desert, forests... When the sun sets out there, it sets on a different landscape every time." 

Maybe Link could understand Zelda every once in a while. He always wanted to be out there, in the beauty of Hyrule. The new castle was beautiful, too, but it was one spot in the whole world, which was bigger than anything he could imagine. 

They stayed together for a while longer, listening to the trickle of the fountain and smelling the strong scent from the abundance of flowers in the dark castle garden, carried by the warm night breeze. Their own little spot in the world for that night. 

 

 

 

 


End file.
